Last Moments
by Asmeone
Summary: When the Clans decide to take over an out-of-the-way world, they meet with almost no resistance. One of the doomed warriors shares his thoughts.


Last Moments  
  
The Clans are coming.  
I only got the news myself, this morning, on the small radio that I keep in my house. They are coming, coming to take us and our home.   
For the past few years, all we have heard about is the Clans. One by one, they took the planets in the galaxy, saying that their goal was to make it more civilized. They are the uncivilized ones. What is truly barbaric, is bursting onto someone's homeland, and telling them how to live.   
Soon, it came to be that a world fell once a week, sometimes more. Most of the able-bodied men and women left my planet, to join the great fight against the Clans. They left us behind, to fight for the liberty of our planet and keep it in order, keep it from succumbing to civil war and other internal dangers.   
I am one of they few left, one of the ones chosen to stay and defend. It is not that I would not do well on the battle field. I am one of the few good pilots that they sparred to protect our precious planet. I am one of the few, the proud, the guardians of this planet.   
We never thought that they would want our planet. The Clans have mostly taken the big, populated worlds, that can help them, in their dark crusade. The ones that have people, and resources, and factories. Not the deserted ones, like ours. We thought that we could hid under a cover of inferiority, but we were wrong. Dead wrong.   
One of my fellow bystanders brings to my attention the true reason why they want us. It is because, as small as our world is, it stands in front of a group of large planets that would be ideal foe the Clan purpose. The only way they can reach the others is through use. It is like trying to capture one town at the mouth of a river, and thus having the power to starve a nation. This new information makes my stomach twist. We are going to fall, and because of that, many others will die, as well.   
I know we do not stand a chance, but I am determined to at least stand. I voice my opinion, and there are shouts of consent.  
I climb into my 'Mech's cockpit, and savor the whir of machinery, for I know it will be my last chance to do so. The Cans do take survivors, or so I have heard, but I have no intention of being a prisoner of war. There are some things worse than death, and this is one of them. I am going down with my home.   
I push my 'Mech faster and faster, bouncing with it as its huge hulk swings from side to side. I feel as if I am part of it. No, it is part of me. We are one machine, intent on destroying as much of the enemy as possible before it destroys us. Then, I stop it on the top of a hill. The sun is just beginning to set, and it casts a red glow on the land. I see two columns of smoke heading for the ground: Unmistakably, dropships. At first, I feel a thrill of hope, because they might be someone coming to help us. But I am wrong.   
Strangely, I feel no fear. I stare into the sunset of a life time, the last sunset that I will ever see. It's like the sun knows our plight, and in order to honor us, it casts the most brilliant rays possible on our doomed planet. The sunset, the end of the light, it only a symbol, because like the day, my life will end that evening, too.   
As I watch the dropships come ever closer, and the light begins to fade away, as sense of peace envelops me. I am going to die, but I can be proud to die, because it is for a great cause. The Clans may eventually take over the universe, after I am gone, but what truly matters it the people. The people like me, and the ones who stand with me, who give our lives for what we love. We disappear, but our legacy remains. The Clans will not take us without knowing that we oppose them.   
This is my planet, and I am its defender. The true meaning of guarding something is that you fight for it with such ferocity, that you either win the battle, or die trying. I know that I will not win, but I can try. All I can do is try, and I will put every ounce of my life force into doing just that. I, with all the strength that I posses, will defend my home, even thought it is fated to fall. That, is the true meaning of being a 'Mechwarrior.   
  



End file.
